To examine the relationship between reading performance and television viewing, the state of Connecticut's third assessment of educational progress in reading included questions relating to the reading materials available in students' homes, their television viewing habits, and their attitudes toward reading. Approximately 8,000 students in grades four, eight, and eleven were tested. The results indicated that older students spent less time watching television than did younger students. In addition, the number of students reporting "enjoyment" with reading decreased with age while the number of students reporting a "dislike" of reading increased with age. Reading scores for the fourth grade students, the heaviest television viewers, were relatively unrelated to television viewing. However, for the eighth and eleventh grade students, those watching more than four hours of television a day scored lower on achievement than those watching a more moderate amount, indicating an inverse relationship bewteen heavy television viewing and reading achievement. This may be due to the cumulative effects of television viewing, to the increase in vocational and social involvement of older students, or to the fact that students with poor reading skills continued to be heavy viewers. (HTH)